The ULTIMATE Ain't No Sunshine Guitar Lesson (Bill Withers, John Mayer)

Looking for a great song to elevate your fingerpicking skills and jam with friends?  

This “Ain’t No Sunshine” Guitar Lesson has got you covered.

Who wrote "Ain’t No Sunshine"?

“Ain’t No Sunshine” was written by Bill Withers and was first released as a single off his 1971 album Just As I Am. The record was produced by Booker T. Jones and features some fantastic musicians, including Stephen Stills on guitar, Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass, and Al Jackson Jr. on drums.

It was recorded in Los Angeles with overdubs later done in Memphis Tennesee, and became a breakthrough hit for Withers’ career.

What is the key of Ain't No Sunshine?

“Ain’t No Sunshine” is in the key of Am and features a looping 8-bar chord progression. The song is blues-based and is a great one to know because it's frequently played at jam sessions. Additionally, the chord progression is relatively simple and easy to pick up, as it's just 8 bars long.

Ain't No Sunshine Guitar Chords

Before diving into the song, it's important to familiarize yourself with the basic chords used in "Ain't No Sunshine." To play “Ain’t No Sunshine” you only need to know 4 chords. Am7, Em7, G7, and Dm7.

However, we are going to use two different chord shapes in this post for the Em7.

Since the song is in the key of Am you could think of each chord in relation to the scale like this:

Am7 = im7

Em7 = vm7

G7 = bVII7

Dm7 = ivm7

Notice how the chords are all 3-note chords. These are what I call “shell” chords. These types of chord voicings contain the defining elements for each chord. So for these shapes, they have the root, the 3rd, and the 7th from the scale. 

The song has a slow and melancholy feel to it. To begin the first measure plays an Am7 for 2 beats and then 1 beat for each Em7 and G7.  

/ /       /        /         

Am7, Em7, G7 (1 bar)

Then one full bar of Am7.

Am7 (1 bar) 

These first two bars create the signature riff for the song and establish the minor blues groove.

Then all of that repeats again:

/ /       /        /         

Am7, Em7, G7 (1 bar)

Am7 (1 bar)

From there we get to the turnaround progressions and here we’ll use the Em7 chord from above at the 7th position and play:

Em7 (1 bar)

Dm7 (1 bar) 

Then tie in the first part above again.

/ /       /        /         

Am7, Em7, G7 (1 bar)

Am7 (1 bar) 

Then all of the repeats back to the top.

Ain't No Sunshine Fingerstyle

Now that you have the basic chords and progression down, next, let’s look at the guitar style Withers plays as he accompanies himself singing. He doesn’t use a pick to strum the strings instead he uses his fingers.

This gives a lot more dimension to the sound and easily helps him create a full sound alone. This is accomplished by two key ingredients.

1. Breaking up the bass notes from the chord to create the feel of bass and guitar
2. Pinching strings all at once which sounds more like a piano than a typically strummed guitar

Let’s next look at an approach for each chord to see this in action.

The basic underlying rhythmic value in the guitar part here is going to be an 8th-note pattern. Now this is slightly different than the overall feel of the song which I would say is a 16th-note feel, listen for this in the drum pattern played by Al Jackson Jr.

The guitar part plays an alternating pattern between the bass note of the chord and then a pinch on the other strings in the chord. I creatively call this a “bass-note-pinch” pattern. 

Here’s what that would look like on an Am7:

That type of pattern can be repeated over and over to create a groove underneath the vocal line. Then on beats 3 and 4 when the chords move quicker, you can play this pattern for the Em7 to G7:

Withers uses his guitar accompaniment in a “call and response” type of style. He’ll sing the call which is “ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone…” And then the guitar and rhythm section will answer with the response of the rhythmic figure.

Then he’ll play one bass-note pinch pattern and let the chord ring out like this: 

This guitar style is simple but highly effective. It is a great approach to accompaniment to keep in your back pocket as you can use it in many songs. 

After the first 4 bars then we get to the last 4 bars and this is the same type of progression you’ll see in a 12-bar blues song and is often called a turnaround progression. This provides a little relief from the first section and then turns it around and brings it back home. Here we are essentially moving from the v chord down to the iv chord and then back home to the signature riff.

|| vm7 | ivm7 | im7 vm7 bVII7| im7 ||

Here I like to move up to the 7th position for the Em7 and play the chord voicing that has a root on the 5th string. For the first 2 bars of the turnaround progression each chord last 1 bar. So for Em7 and Dm7, I’ll play 4 bass-note pinches on each chord like this:

Playing chords with this approach is a great way to develop consistency in your fingerpicking hand. Also note the Dm7 shape is exactly the same as the Em7 shape at the 7th fret it’s just shifted down to the 5th fret.

After this, return back to the signature groove like this:

The Break

The break happens, at about 50 secs into the song where the band fades down and just leaves Withers singing along with the drum groove. There is where he sings “I know, I know…” Here I like to actually play this little riff on guitar which is just a groove one 2 notes of the A minor pentatonic scale.

I got this idea from a great version that Sting did and here he doubles that melody part on his bass in this video below at around 1 minute in:

Soloing

Once the basic rhythms and progression are feeling comfortable next you can try soloing and improvising over the chord progression.

The first scale choice that I would go to for this would be the A minor pentatonic scale. This can be played at the 5th fret like this:

To play these on your guitar start on the 5th fret and play: 

6th string frets = 5, 8

5th string frets = 5, 7

4th string frets = 5, 7

3rd string frets = 5, 7

2nd string frets = 5, 8

1st string frets = 5, (8)

Another great approach is to take the melody of the song and learn that on guitar and then improvise with it.

In this video below I’ll do a much deeper dive on this as well.

Ain't No Sunshine John Mayer Guitar Lesson

Eric Clapton said this about John Mayer’s guitar playing:

“He [John Mayer] is a master, and I don't think he even knows how good he is."

(Just Google Eric Clapton says John Mayer is a "master" guitarist to see this) But it’s 

true.

In fact, I’ve done recording sessions with a couple of John Mayer’s bandmates and they all agree. John is a phenomenal guitar player and musician.

Check out his version from 2010 at the Crossroads Guitar Festival. He’s backed by two legends Steve Jordan on drums, and Pino Palladino on bass.

Put it all together and play along with the song

Now that you have learned the chords, fingerpicking patterns, and melody for "Ain't No Sunshine," it's time to put it all together and play along with the song. Start by playing the chords and picking patterns along with the recording. If needed, I recommend slowing the song down to ensure that it isn't too fast. Once you're comfortable, you can gradually increase the tempo and incorporate more of the riffs and solos.

Also, keep in mind that the simple bass-note-pinch technique will come in handy in many other songs, especially if you want to accompany yourself singing or someone else.

This song has a deep groove, so remember to focus on your timing and keep it consistent. With practice, you'll be able to create your own version or jam with other musicians. For another great bluesy groove, check out "Green Onions" next.